Group of outsiders marathon

Tonight's marathon deals with a group of outsider kids going on insane adventures, rescuing priceless items from the grasps of a big giant dog on the other side of a baseball field fence, the search for treasure, a group of rugged street kids coming together and forming a resistance during a soviet invasion, a group of young filmmakers witnessing a train crash and the unearthing of an undisclosed alien species, and finally, the rivalry between a group of rich and poor kids that ends with a powerful message. Tonight we follow these group of kids and their journeys, which not only carry with them great imagination, but also has them grow from being a group of innocent kids, into responsible young adults. Tonight's menu consists of the following classics:

The Sandlot 1994, The Goonies 1985, Red Dawn 1984, Super 8 2011, and The Outsiders 1982

What this marathon consists of is five full blown movies of five different story arcs involving five different groups of kids. The marathon begins with the formation of the group in The Sandlot though the personal journey of Scott Smalls, a nerdy kid who the group rejects at first but later befriends and are faced with a terrible dilemma of losing a baseball signed by legendary Babe Ruth to the clutches of a giant beast dog on the other side of the fence on the local baseball field. The kids have no choice in this one but to brave the wrath of the beast and get the ball back from his clutches. The Goonies, centers around a group of kids who end up following a mysterious treasure map in their quest to find pirated treasure in order to stop their houses from foreclosure. What begins as a form of innocence for the group of kids begins to take a dark turn with Red Dawn. Red Dawn puts a group of rugged street kids on the brink of World War lll, banding together to defend their town and country from the invading soviets. Red Dawn not only has iconic scenes such as the opening sequence where the Soviets invade the local school but has a great collection of teen stars from the 1980's such as Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, and C. Thomas Howell. Super 8 continues the supernatural element started by the Goonies and Sandlot where a group of kids in the summer of 1979 witness a train crash and investigate strange events occuring in their town involving the creature that emerged from the trainwreck.The final film of the marathon, The Outsiders brings it all together not only with the star studded cast including Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, and Rob Lowe, but it deals with everyday issues of young teen children being discriminated against because of their social status. The film deals with this issue and has a climax that defines the true meaning of friendship, and banding together when times are tough.

Themes that define this marathon are friendship, maturity, bravery, courage, imagination, remembering what matters, reflecting on one's own childhood and past, and patriotism. This marathon captures the innocence of childhood, while also showing that innocence disappearing when situations such as the ones in Red Dawn and Super 8 began to occur.